Providing the Means of Action

Drawing on the work of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), this contribution examines how science and research funding jointly provide means for political action in order to meet today’s greatest challenges – such as the pandemic, war, and climate change.By enabling and promoting curiosity-driven research, the DFG helps ensure that scholars, policymakers and society as a whole have a wide range of advanced scientific options at their disposal in case of acute need – an invaluable repository of knowledge from which evidence-based solutions to concrete problems can quickly emerge when needed. Funding organisations like the DFG take on the role of an intermediary in this dynamic ensemble. They shelter and foster scholarly curiosity and integrity, because scientific autonomy provides the best foundation for a responsible and successful interplay between science and politics both nationally and internationally.Against this background, several questions arise: What does it mean to be united by science? What is the role of research in this process? What is the role of research funding? And why do we need to remain curious to achieve this unity?